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Conference Adopts Plan On Limiting Population

A United Nations conference reached agreement today on a plan to curb the world's population growth that includes recommendations that have drawn objections from several conservative Muslim and Roman Catholic countries.

The 179 nations that met to assess progress toward goals set at the 1994 Cairo population conference adopted, by consensus, recommendations including unrestricted access to safe abortions in countries where it is legal, education in ''sexual and reproductive health issues'' at all school levels, and confidential contraceptive advice to ''sexually active adolescents.''

Argentina, Nicaragua and the Vatican filed reservations.

Population officials generally expressed satisfaction today with the meeting's outcome.

''Cairo has taken root and is working,'' the chief United States delegate, Undersecretary of State Frank E. Loy, said at a news conference.

Rather than merely setting numerical targets and mounting family-planning campaigns, the Cairo strategy seeks to improve the status of women in the belief that they will then have smaller families.

This week's conference recommended that governments make a number of adjustments to this strategy, mainly in policies toward abortion, the 1.1 billion people in the world between the ages of 15 and 24 and the estimated 33 million people infected with the AIDS virus.

It urged governments to deal resolutely with the damage done to women by unskilled abortionists, saying that where abortion is legal they should ''train and equip health-service providers and should take other measures to insure that abortion is safe and accessible.''

While Chile and El Salvador are the only countries to ban abortion outright, another 75 or so permit it only when a woman's life is directly threatened.

The Cairo plan calls simply for abortion to be ''safe'' in countries where it is legal. It did not say abortions should be ''accessible'' or make governments responsible for insuring that practitioners are qualified.

Almost equally contentious, however, were some of the conference's recommendations dealing with young people.

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The conference called for schoolchildren at all levels to be instructed in ''sexual and reproductive health issues'' in order to teach them ''responsible sexual behavior'' and protect them from ''unwanted pregnancy'' and sexually transmitted diseases.

It also told governments to provide ''special family-planning information, counseling and health services'' for ''sexually active adolescents'' and to help them avoid AIDS.

While governments should respect ''the rights, duties and responsibilities of parents'' as well as ''cultural values and religious beliefs,'' the conference said they should ''safeguard the right of adolescents to privacy, confidentiality and informed consent'' when providing such assistance.

These new recommendations go far beyond those of the Cairo plan, which simply asked governments to provide adolescents with ''guidance in sexual and reproductive matters'' and not to restrict their access to ''appropriate services and the advice they need.''

Once again, conservative governments sought to emphasize parents' right to control all aspects of their children's education and to play down the state's role in making sex education and contraceptive advice available to young people.

The conference also recognized that the AIDS pandemic is far worse now than expected five years ago by setting new, specific targets for reducing the infection's spread.

By 2005, it said, governments should insure that at least 90 percent of adolescents have access to ''the information, education and services necessary to develop the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability'' to the disease, raising this to 95 percent by 2010.

Services provided should include ''access to preventative methods such as female and male condoms, voluntary testing, counseling and follow up.''

By 2005, governments in the most affected countries should aim for a 25 percent reduction in the number of young people getting infected, the conference said, and this should become a universal target for all countries by 2010.

The conference also recognized that one of the greatest threats to achieving the population goals set at Cairo is lack of funding. Bringing the world's population under control by 2050 is expected to cost $17 billion a year by 2000, with the developing world contributing two thirds and the industrialized countries the rest.